Super Unfortunate Events
by Nishinn
Summary: Ivan Braginsky, part-time villain, headmaster of Heta-College finds himself falling for a certain charming American physics professor in his school. Unfortunately for him, his villain life seems to be getting in the way of a normal relationship, especially when his arch-nemesis superhero becomes more involved than he's supposed to. (Villain!Ivan and Hero!Alfred)
1. Chapter 1

**Title:** _Super Unfortunate Events_

 **Pairing:** Russia x Amrica from Hetalia! Superhero!AU (Villain!Ivan and Hero!Alfred)

 **Summary:** Ivan Braginsky, part-time villain, headmaster of Heta-College finds himself falling for one of the charming American physics professors in his school. Unfortunately for him, his villain life seems to be getting in the way of a normal relationship, especially when his arch-nemesis superhero becomes more involved than he's supposed to. (Villain!Ivan and Hero!Alfred)

 **(A/N): So this is a little story I felt an intense need to write. Enjoy!**

* * *

Ivan wasn't one to regret too many things in his life.

He didn't regret his decision to play along with his family's crime-filled legacy. He didn't regret donning blood-red and jet-black spandex, cementing himself into the alternate persona of _Doctor Viktor,_ criminal mastermind extraordinaire. He didn't regret the riches he stole, the mayors he'd assassinated, not the enemies- nay, heroes- he'd had to face and kill.

Ivan didn't regret his decision to live a double-life either. Not once did he regret his job as Heta-College's head master. True, his sister had always been berating him for keeping such a high-exposure profession. She would swoop in through the wide-open windows of his oak-floor office, dragging her blood-stained heels over the wood. She'd sneer and complain about how if he didn't have so much paper work and ceremonies to attend to, they'd have finished another operation by then. But Ivan didn't mind. It was his life, he enjoyed it. He'd simply smile apologetically and ask her to quietly ditch her super-suit. Then, he'd have to check the surveillance systems for any suspicious footage of Natalia breaking into the school and quickly get rid of it—because he loved his sister that way.

He didn't regret befriending the teachers nor the staff, despite Natalia constantly expressing her worry for the risk of someone finding out.

He also didn't regret allowing a fresh-out-of-college physics professor to gain an immediate job at his school. The young American boy had an _impressive_ record, with marks higher than his own former teachers, so despite the obvious protests from the British English professor, and the boy's overly childish demeanor, he'd allowed him onto the teaching staff.

Alfred F. Jones was his name—golden boy since he'd turned up at high school. He was carefree, happy-go-lucky, charismatic, and was generally a huge hit with the students. Ivan was skeptical of him, at first.

Then, eventually, he grew a small fondness for the young man.

It was that one morning, when Ivan had stumbled into the school, bags under his eyes, looking tired as hell after several nights of an unsuccessful operation which he and his sister _still_ couldn't manage to crack. _Viktor_ and _Silver Knife_ had been at it for days, constantly kept at bay by _The Captain_ —an obnoxious little "hero" splattered with red, white and blue, with the powers of super-strength that far surpassed Ivan's own, incredible agility, and the ability of showing up and ruining any chance Ivan got at completing his task.

The headmaster was sleep-deprived, pissed off, and generally scarier than usual that morning—he had been for days now. So, upon getting to his office and finding a warm mug of hot chocolate on his desk with a bright yellow post-it saying, in a neat little script, " _Thought you might need a reason to smile_ _, -A. Jones,_ " he couldn't help but feel better immediately.

The next day, he'd been to school way before the gates had opened. Last night's assassination attempt proved futile after he'd been kept up all night by The Captain, up until four a.m. . So Ivan had told his sister to get some well-needed rest while he slipped into his office to finish the paperwork he'd ditched the previous night.

Later that morning, Alfred the physics professor had bounced into his office, a warm cup of coffee in hand, smiling brightly through his loud greeting. He'd offered Ivan a little help and company, since _"My first period won't be starting until an hour later, anyway,"_ and generally made the Russian's day brighter.

Later that night, it was fair to say that he'd given The Captain some painful blows with a little more vigor.

Since that first morning, Alfred had shown up at his office with a bright smile every day, but not always with a warm drink. Sometimes he'd bring in a cake or two, or even some finished paperwork that Ivan had neglected the previous night. Honestly, the headmaster was thankful.

Ivan grew to enjoy each morning, the warm fondness he had for the man growing exponentially.

So one night, he asked his sister to leave the operation be for just _that one night._ Natalia, being Natalia, had adamantly refused and insisted that she could take on the operation herself. In the end, she'd given in, knowing that The Captain would beat her to a crunch if she had to face him alone.

And that night, he'd asked Alfred out for the first time. _"Oh, you know—eat dinner, watch a movie. The usual."_

The professor's reply had been a playful, _"Are you asking me out, Braginsky?"_ with a coyly raised eyebrow. Ivan had stuttered out unintelligibly at that, until Alfred laughed and agreed quite mirthfully.

The next day, Ivan was surprised to hear from his sister that she'd gone to the Manor—the sight of their operation—to do a simple stake-out around the outer white walls and shrubbery. She wasn't planning on engaging at all, she simply wanted to check-up on The Captain. To both their surprise, she found the Manor being guarded by another hero—old Emerald-Eyes as they called him. He was perched up on the rooftop with his signature cat-like crouch, the exact place The Captain usually stood guard.

According to Natalia, he'd spotted her and offered a sarcastic smirk-and-wave. She flipped him off and left. They knew he worked in tangent with The Captain on occasion, but they'd never seen him with said hero on that specific operation.

This gave them both a feeling of careful dread. If The Captain had asked his British friend to assist, more heroes around the country might be aware of the assassination, therefore rendering their task futile.

"No," Ivan insisted. "We keep at it. We can't end it now—we're so close."

Natalia had been thoughtful, and for a long while, she was silent. "Your friends," she said. "And your job. You need to pay attention to these things. As much as I dislike you having distractions, brother, I know how happy they make you. Let's take a break, only for two months, maybe three—if only to throw the heroes off our scent. The minister might be leaving for a meeting, or perhaps a vacation by then. If we catch him outside of the manor, his death might be easier for us, no? What do you say?"

Natalia had an excellent point, which Ivan found to steer greatly in his favor. How could he have not thought of that sooner? Of course, he'd been too preoccupied with trying to finish the operation as quickly as possible, but then again, _all good things come to those who wait,_ right?

And thus, Ivan had taken the opportunity to focus a great deal of his attention to the physics professor. They went on a whole lot more nights out, and genuinely grew closer. By the end of the first month of his 'villaining-break', he'd know Alfred for a total of four months—and he was head-over-heels.

He loved the man's smile. He loved his hair, the way his hand felt when he held it, and the warm feeling he had when he was around. He loved his loud, ridiculous laugh, which also put him off for some reason the first few times he'd heard it.

The oh-so-American way his voice sounded when he laughed felt eerily similar to the way The Captain laughed—but it was also different. Alfred's was more… warm, genuine. The Captain's always seemed to be radiating smugness, which annoyed Doctor Viktor to a great extent.

And thus, Ivan fell in love.

Even then, he regretted nothing. True, he was afraid. He was scared that Alfred might not love him back, but his affectionate mannerisms gave him hope. More than that though, he was scared that Alfred might realize who he was, or Ivan might get clumsy and accidentally expose himself. Alfred would fear him and he'd lose his chance.

Another thing was, as much as he wanted it, if he and Alfred ever got together, Alfred might find out then and it would be a greater pain. To learn that you were dating murderous supervillain? Potentially traumatizing—especially with Alfred's extreme hero complex and goody-two-shoes nature.

He didn't want to risk it.

But then another significant night occurred; Alfred had taken him out to the rooftop of the college's highest building, blatantly stating that it would be a date.

Ivan's heart had burst out of his ribcage when he saw what Alfred had prepared. Fairy lights, a pastry-filled picnic, roses and plush cushions, all with a romantic sunset backdrop of the school's courtyard.

His feelings were requited—and he had a boyfriend!

Of course, he couldn't keep it from Natalia for long. She'd initially turned red with jealousy and seemed ready to shoot Ivan's new boyfriend in the head with her gun, but she'd softened—almost immediately, actually. This was why Ivan loved her—she could see when he was truly happy, and she'd relent.

Although she had made Alfred promise never to hurt him, and the man had turned it into a full-on speech—all of which greatly embarrassed Ivan—things turned out to be okay in the end.

They shared an apartment, had occasional fights which they quickly resolved with much-appreciated affection, had dinner together, went out a lot, and had such wonderful times in bed.

Ivan never doubted Alfred—and since he never had to suit up for an operation, he felt quite content that Alfred would never find him out. He'd keep his super suit in Natalia's place, and be sure to only suit up there when he went back to going out villain-ing.

He had his plan laid out and was content. Nights in bed were wonderful, his job was wonderful, and his boyfriend was absolutely wonderful.

Until, of course, one faithful night had him suddenly fearing everything.

Alfred was asleep under the sheets, Ivan had gone up to use the bathroom. When he walked back into the bedroom, the sheets were tangled with no Alfred to be found.

Then, he heard voices—low whispers coming from the balcony. He carefully snuck around the corner, watching from the shadows, and was surprised to see Emerald-Eyes, perched on his balcony with cat-like grace. His green eyes shone brightly in contrast with his dark mask and suit.

Ivan was almost worried he'd been found out and had to fight, until he craned his neck further around and saw that the cat-hero was scowling intently at his boyfriend.

He couldn't believe it. Alfred was there, on their balcony in the middle of the night, having a heated conversation with the British superhero. His mind had briefly brought up his sneaking discomfort with his boyfriend's laugh, resulting in the formation of another dreadful suspicion.

So, he listened, his heart pounding.

"—long is it going to take?" The brit was saying.

"I… I don't know. Please, just give me some more time-"

"I don't know how much time I can give you, Alfred!" Emerald-Eyes said, barely keeping his voice above a whisper. It was clear that he was furious with the other man. "Listen, Al, Viktor hasn't shown up _once_ since that time you took the night off. You haven't seen him either, right?"

"No," Alfred said quietly.

"Silver Knife's visits have lessened significantly as well. But she's been popping in, and I'm afraid she'd managed to raid the minister's office."

"What?! You let her—"

"That was _your_ watch, bloody git! She got information on _your_ watch, Jones! Even your inferior brain should process the fact that they're planning something. They're waiting for the minister to leave his household, I suppose, and kill him at some point after that. I won't be able to tell _when,_ and I need your help, Alfred!" Emerald-Eyes looked almost desperate. Angry and desperate. His eyes were pleading.

"Please," Alfred's voice seemed equally desperate as well. "Please, Arthur, I need more time. I can't help you as much, Ivan might find out."

Arthur? As in _Arthur Kirkland?_

Ivan blinked. The cat-like hero and the English professor did have eerily similar voices, hair and eyes. Oh, Jesus, how could he have not seen this before?

Still… what did he want with Alfred? His mind raced a million miles a minute, desperately wishing his suspicions weren't true.

"Al, I know Ivan is important to you—and I fully support that. But this case is _your_ responsibility, even more so than mine. After all, Viktor is _your_ nemesis."

Oh. Lord.

No way, no way. Ivan couldn't believe it.

"I'm afraid that if I go on stake-outs too many nights, Ivan will find me out." Alfred gulped. Arthur rolled his eyes.

"I don't see why that's a problem," The brit said. "You love him, he loves you. He'll accept you for who you are, and who wouldn't want to date the city's loudest superhero, huh?" He offered a small smile, although Alfred didn't seem convinced.

"Listen, Al," he tried again. "You're a _hero._ He'll love you even more so when he finds out. And if you're worried about Ivan being used against you by, say, Viktor, all you have to worry about it not letting _them_ find out. Besides, no one would have the balls to go up against that Russian of yours."

"I… guess you're right," Alfred sighed. He ran a hand through his hair and Arthur smiled.

"Good. Welcome back," From behind himself, Arthur pulled out a blaringly familiar red, white and blue spandex bundle and tossed it to the American.

Ivan gulped. Now, he was no damsel-in-distress, but at the moment, he truly felt faint.

"You don't need to come _every_ night, alright? Just as often as you can—three times a week at least. Please. We can't let go of this case, people's lives are at stake."

"Thanks for understanding, Art."

Arthur sighed and leant back, looking ready to do a backflip out of there. "Sure, sure. Your brother's pretty pissed off as well, and so is the damned Frog. Hey, did you know he's been snogging your brother since last month?"

"W-what!?"

"Hush, your boyfriend might hear. Anyway, I expect to see you on Sunday evening, alright?" And with that, Arthur stood and jumped off the balcony with agile grace.

Ivan, in turn, hurried back into the bed and brought the blankets up to his head, because he could _not_ possibly pull-off a peaceful half-asleep with the information he'd just gained.

Alfred was The Captain. His boyfriend was his mortal enemy. Jesus Christ, he was stuck in a YA Marvel slash fanfiction, wasn't he?

Fear had truly gripped his heart—he didn't know how to handle the situation. He couldn't let Alfred find him out—especially not now! And how was he supposed to look non-suspicious? What if he got too cautious and then Alfred might find out? Or what if Alfred thought he was pushing him away? No! He couldn't afford to lose Alfred, not by any means. He loved him too much.

God, and what about Arthur Kirkland? Two professor heroes at his school? That man surely paid more attention to things than Alfred did. If Ivan acted too cautious around him, then _he_ might find out.

"Hey, babe,"

Ivan's breath hitched at the contact on his skin. Strong arms wrapped around his torso and a comforting warmth pressed against his back. He felt a small kiss placed on his shoulder, before the lips spread into a small smile.

No, no, this was okay. It would be okay.

"Where did you go?"

"Balcony. Wanted some fresh air. Are you okay, babe?"

Alfred loved him. It was okay.

"Yes, I'm fine. I just… missed you."

"Hehe, I missed you too big guy. C'mere, let's get some sleep."

Surely, Alfred was worried about keeping his own identity a secret. He'd be too distracted to notice anything suspicious with Ivan. Besides, the minister's assassination would be roughly two months away from now. He had time to figure this out.

"I love you, Fredka."

He would figure this out. It's not too late.

"I love you too, big guy."

* * *

 **Well, that went well. Thanks for reading! Leave a review and tell me what you think!**

 **~Nish**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter two ahoy! Sit back and enjoy~**

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Ivan had taken on The Captain before—countless times, countless occasions.

Their first battle had occurred when Ivan was but a member of Heta-College's teaching council. He was in-line for the position of headmaster, and Alfred had just been a famous college-student face in the school newspaper.

It was around the fifth time Ivan had donned the black, grey and red suit. He kept a red mask over the top of his face, almost in a Phantom-of-the-Opera manner of style, as his means of concealing his identity.

The first time he'd taken on the persona of Doctor Viktor, he'd watched his father do the work with his sister Natalia by his side. They'd broken into the City Hall's informational office and took what they needed for the mayor's assassination.

The second time had been the assassination itself. While Ivan had been more interested in the planning grounds of the project, helping his father set the stage for the murder and delving into the technological mazes of the planning process, his sister had been itching to get her hand on a gun.

The plan was to give the public official a near-silent death. They'd shoot him in the head from a vantage point as he paraded downtown between the buildings. Of course, a hero simply _had_ to be there and ruin the well-prepared murder.

It had been Emerald-Eyes, the cat-like hero who Ivan now knew to be the stuck-up English professor, Arthur Kirkland. After a successful struggle, he'd broken the gun and it seemed their plan was over; however Natalia was dead-set on finishing the job. She'd taken their father's sling-cord then swung down into the middle of the parade, laughing maniacally as she fired her carry-on pistol.

Arthur could do nothing, and so he'd made his escape while Ivan tried to wrap his mind around the fact that his sister had just straight-up publicly murdered someone.

After that first mission, he'd initially branded them a duo: the villainous Russian siblings. He dubbed himself to be the "brains", as they called it, while Natalia was to be his "brawn", the executor. But of course, through growth and experience, they've both learned to balance-out the two aspects within themselves, and eventually, Ivan had taken a liking to spilling political blood.

His fifth job was then to be his first solo-job. It was simple—rob a bank, get the money. All on his own.

He'd already had five dead security guards and a partially cracked safe when The Captain had showed up, dressed in a blaring red and white suit flecked with blue here and there.

" _Hey! Where ya_ Russian-off _to, Doctor Viktor?"_ It had been the most American, most obnoxious thing Ivan had ever heard in his life. The pun had initially caught him unawares, but the fist swinging toward his face successfully snapped him out of it.

At first, he thought he would easily be able to break the young hero's arm off with his super strength, until he found out that the prick had some super strength of his own. Further into the fight, Ivan was a little more than disgruntled to find out that it far surpassed his.

Doctor Viktor had created a crater within a wall upon punching it; The Captain had accidentally kicked his entire body right through another.

Needless to say, the fight didn't end in Ivan's favor. He'd gone home that night with a sore jaw and a thirst for revenge. He was aware that The Captain was as new at his job as he was—clumsy with his strength, a little too heavy on the cocky puns. But he grew, they both did.

Ivan got faster, smarter, stronger. He'd learned to balance out his planning and execution, combined with the careful application of his abilities. The Captain's strength grew as well. He'd eventually gotten rid of his initial clumsiness, gained the ability to constantly mislead Ivan with what his next move would be, and kept his impulsive nature in check, but the puns stayed, of course.

Ivan could read The Captain like no other. He knew how he moved, what cocky pun he'd pull out next, and when he was stalling for time or trying to prevent it. But still, he was almost always one step ahead, always managing to stop Ivan before he could steal or kill what he needed to.

However sometimes, Ivan got the upper hand.

He would never forget the day Ivan had killed his target right in front of the hero assigned to protect her. It was the first murder Alfred failed to prevent.

The woman was a high-ranking business contender of the company Ivan's uncle ran. She'd gotten a sniff of some "illegal" work underground, so of course, as a birthday treat, he took on the job of taking her down. After the bombs he'd planted had gone off, The Captain's arm was pinned down under a wall of concrete, too large even for him to quickly maneuver out of, and Ivan had the woman in his grasp with a knife to her neck. Doctor Viktor looked down at the helpless hero, ecstatic at the look of utter panic, before he smiled, making sure he would see.

" _You could have stopped me, Captain! This is your fault."_

Blood was drawn, right in front of the helpless man. Ivan's lips would randomly twitch up in a smile for days after that, as he recalled The Captain's broken scream and the tears that slipped through the mask.

The hero had become more guarded after that. With every success, he would smile at Ivan in retaliation of that first failure, and with every defeat, his normally upbeat mood would do a hundred-and-eighty-degree flip into darkness.

When Ivan first registered himself falling in love with Alfred F. Jones, he came to the conclusion that he could never, ever truly bring himself to hurt the man—not counting any explicit times in bed, of course.

Alfred was simply so… alive. He was a bright, bouncing, enthusiastic light that touched every dark corner in Ivan's heart. Whenever he got upset, Ivan felt the overwhelming urge to wipe the frown off his face. Whenever Alfred tried to apologize after an argument, Ivan would never let him think it was his fault. Besides, who remembers who's fault after any argument, anyways?

He simply wanted Alfred to be… Alfred. Ivan knew that he could never corrupt him with the villainous side of himself, and so he made the choice never to tell his boyfriend. He'd keep it a secret from him down to his grave.

So of course, upon finding out that Ivan had indeed hurt, broken, and even mortally wounded his boyfriend-slash-enemy multiple times in the past, he wasn't sure how he could face him ever again.

The pleading blue eyes that cried for the dead business woman were the same ones that smiled at him as he was handed a mug of morning coffee. The hand that he'd crushed under a car was the same one that caressed his cheek in the most loving manner possible. The lips that spat out cocky insults and threats were the same ones that pressed against his own now.

How could Ivan hurt him again?

The super villain's current disposition was one he'd hoped he would never be in.

Natalia's solution to the hero-infested-manor problem would be to simply kill the minister at work. The documents she'd stolen from the Manor's office entailed a diplomatic-relations meeting to be held at the City Council office on November the twenty-first—two days from then.

Since there would be no way to sneak anything into the hall, they would crash through the windows and saunter into the place, guns and grenades in hand, then shoot the minister before covering their tracks with explosions. Crude and rather vague, but even Ivan could see no other way to get around the heroes constantly guarding the Manor.

Assuming the heroes knew nothing of the meeting, based on the secrecy of the documents Natalia had gathered, Viktor and Silver Knife would be free from a messy fight.

Ivan didn't like how utterly spontaneous their actions would be. Granted, they've gone through _some_ form of planning, but the circumstances were still vague. And yet there he was, grenades at his sides, guns in his hand, on the rooftop just outside the windows to the City Hall's meeting office.

Ivan had been worrying back and forth about whether or not the heroes would show up. _Of course they won't! They don't know about this meeting!_ But what if they did? What if they were informed somehow? What if Alfred showed up? How was Ivan going to fight?

 _No,_ no. It was alright. Natalia was staking out the surrounding area, making sure there were no heroes present. It was okay.

With a clack of her heels, Silver Knife set herself down by Ivan's side, crouched low with guns in each hand. "No heroes. We're clear."

Ivan nodded. The meeting would have been almost halfway through; it was now or never.

Together, the two grappled ropes to the rooftop, securing the ends along their belts. In complete sync, they ran down the roof, jumped, and swung around in a perfect arc to crash into the wide meeting-hall windows.

After the initial landing shock, Ivan found himself crouched right in front of the elongated meeting table, baffled politicians on either side screaming at the shattered glass. Quickly, his eyes scanned the room for the wrinkly old face of the minister, who he found stumbling around in a panic in the middle of the room.

He pointed his gun and called to his sister, "Over there!"

His target was locked and ready to fire—this would finally be done with!—when something metallic and painful flung the gun off his hand, sending Ivan stumbling back.

"Oh no you don't!" Emerald-Eyes was there, holding the double-doors open at the opposite end of the room. Politicians scrambled to the exit while the cat-like hero made his way to where Natalia stood, at the edge of the table clutching a bleeding hand.

Ivan was ready to charge in and help his sister when a large force knocked him over the meeting table. Without missing a beat, he spun around coming masked face-to-masked face with the red, white and blue splattered hero: The Captain.

He smiled down at Ivan, familiar cocky grin in check. This time around, the grin was all too familiar for the villain's liking.

Absolutely everything about this man whom he'd hated for _years_ now screamed _Alfred_. It made Ivan's head spin, and it certainly wasn't because of the blow to his back.

Alfred had what looked to be a curved dagger in his hand, ready to attack. "Not this time, Viktor," he sneered and dove forward.

He might have been aiming for Ivan's sleeve, but the Russian dodged. He took advantage of Alfred's momentum and pushed him up and away before getting up himself. Taking a quick look around, Ivan cursed. The politicians were gone, the last of them having scrambled out the door when The Captain took him down. There was no way the minister would be killed now—the operation was over.

Shit.

The Captain quickly got up and dove again, his blade swinging dangerously close. Ivan resisted to urge to grab another gun from his belt in favor of dodging. They were both on the table—Alfred desperately trying to take him down and Ivan barely missing every swing.

He missed a punch to the face but took a kick to the gut, which sent the villain tumbling over swivel-chairs and onto the floor.

Sensing the hero coming down on him, he quickly rolled to the side where Alfred's fist made a crater where his head had just been. Breathing hard, he got up and sent The Captain sprawling back with a kick to the gut. He winced at the hero's pained grunt.

Taking the momentary distraction, Ivan looked across the room to see Emerald-Eyes in close hand-to-hand combat with his sister, who'd pulled out her twin daggers with her guns knocked out of her hands.

"This is your last fight, Viktor!" Alfred yelled from his place by the meeting table. Ivan looked back to see him cocking the pistol he'd dropped earlier, now aimed directly at him. He froze.

Alfred wouldn't shoot him—not fatally anyway. He'd aim for his arms or legs, nothing more. In those quick two seconds of hesitation, Ivan decided he'd do the same and feel guilty later.

He quickly slipped his back-up gun out and fired two shots, both of which the hero quickly dodged.

He rolled as another shot was fired his way and stopped himself from blindly shooting back.

 _One, two, three, four, five, six…_ Ivan counted the shots as he dodged. Then—nothing. Clicking. Followed by immediate swearing.

Alfred dropped the gun and glared, seeing Ivan's hand grasped around a still-loaded pistol. The hero seemed ready to dive forward anyway when a pained scream had both their heads whipping around.

Emerald-Eyes' arm was pinned down on the table, one of Natalia's blades sticking out of it. Said woman was across the room, by the double doors, with her straps of grenades thrown at her feet. Before Ivan could react, she fired three shots from another gun aimed straight at Alfred. One found its target.

"You may have stopped us from killing the minister, but there's still a hell of a lot of people in this building, and someone's going to die!" Natalia screamed, taking a grenade in one hand. She sent Ivan a momentary look, _run,_ before pulling the pin, dropping the bomb, and running towards the window.

Ivan's last view of the scene was The Captain clutching his midsection, stumbling towards the black-suited hero who'd just pulled the blade out of his arm, before Natalia shoved him out the glassless window sending them both crashing into the ground two floors below.

Not two seconds from the crash, Ivan was hauled up to his feet again, before being dragged across the courtyard in a speedy daze. Natalia had just barely gotten them across the outer wall when the much anticipated explosion hit, knocking Ivan off his feet and sending shrapnel flying over everywhere.

Even as Natalia was screeching for him to get a move on, Ivan couldn't help but look back at the massive fireball erupting from the collapsing building. Flames and debris were all around it as a steady column of black smoke rose from the broken windows.

Ivan had never felt such a strong sense of fear in his life.

* * *

 _[9:32 p.m.]_ _Alfred_ _: "Hey babe! Got sum issues with Matthew here at home. Imma be home late.. don't wait up, k? Luv u~"_

 _[9:35 p.m.]: "Ok. I'm out with Nat, I won't be home till midnight. Be careful, luv u 2."_

 _[9:41 p.m.]:_ _Alfred:_ " _Ah ok. I might be home a lil earlier tho. gtg luv u."_

Ivan glared at his phone screen, rereading the text messages over and over.

The explosion at the City Hall was all over the news; the death toll was estimated to be at least two so far, so Natalia got her wish. Fortunately for them, one of those two was the minister who had, according to eye-witnesses, stumbled and fell during the stampede. Unable to get up and move quickly enough, he'd been crushed by debris from the explosion. His body was found an hour after the fire was put-out, still alive. He'd been silenced at the hospital.

It was now eleven p.m., six hours from the nasty encounter at the City Hall. Ivan had been worrying his arse off over Alfred with only two meek little text messages to account for his well-being. At least he was alive.

Jesus, if he was ever mortally wounded it would be Ivan's fault. He was shot in the side for Pete's sake! And what about Arthur? The man had a blade go through his arm. Ivan made a mental note to allow him a week or two off of work if he ever asked for it.

Finally, after about an hour of sitting in the darkness of his living room hidden in the corner, he heard the lock jingle. With the click, the front door was pushed open and he could spot Alfred's figure stumble in.

The lights remained off, keeping Ivan well-hidden in shadow. The man had plopped himself down on the couch allowing Ivan to get a good view of his pained grimace, aided by the light spilling in from the balcony.

With a start, Ivan realized that Alfred was still in his super suit. His mask was gone, but the spandex body remained. It was burnt and charred in many places, exposing bruised and bloodied skin. There was a remarkably white sash of cloth tied around his midsection, stained with a darkness Ivan could only assume to be blood from his bullet wound.

Slowly, the hero pulled off the sash, then the upper half of his suit, exposing wounds, burns and bruises everywhere. Then, with several painful hisses, pulled off the lower half leaving him in a pair of black boxers. Alfred then stumbled off into the shower, faintly muttering something about useless guns leaving Ivan to resist the urge to punch himself right then and there.

* * *

"I'm fine Matthew. Yeah, yeah—it's okay! Jeeze, calm down bro."

Alfred had his phone between his shoulder and cheek, his hands busy with trying to bandage the bullet wound around his midsection. He was plopped down on the sofa with his super suit still in a heap on the floor.

Ivan however, was still hidden around the corner, watching and listening intently. His initial intentions were to leave as soon as Alfred left for the bathroom, then waltz back in pretending that he'd just arrived home, but curiosity overtook him upon hearing his phone ring and now he had to wait until his boyfriend left the living room again.

"What does the news say? Was everyone alive?"

A faint, muffled voice made its way through the speaker, before Alfred sighed and grimaced. "H-how 'bout the minister? We saw him run out of the doors…" Another pause, before the American groaned in defeat and took his head in his hands. With his eyes shining in the dim light, he looked ready to cry, and indeed he was. "God… I'm sorry Matthew… No, don't apologize—it's not your fault. I know, I know…. Hey—I had to help with the rescue somehow, thanks for sending Francis to help."

So that's what had taken him so long; he'd gone back to help evacuate the City Hall, with the help of some _Francis,_ apparently.

"Yeah, yeah… And Arthur…? Ouch. Yeah, okay, I'll talk Ivan into giving him the week off… Me? Dude, I can't let Ivan know I got shot! Ugh, and what am I gonna do about these wounds? Stupid Viktor… Yeah, I'll um… just tell Ivan…"

He paused, glancing hopefully at his phone. Ivan could almost hear his brother's loud groan from the other line.

" _Well_ he just won't have to see me naked for a week then!— _What?_ I can handle it! Oh, shut up, Matt."

Again, Alfred hissed in pain as he finished up bandaging his wound. His arm reached around his waist, flexing a pair of scabbed-over scars running across his bicep. The hero glanced at them for a moment, before turning his attention to a wide gash on his knee.

"Yes, Matthew, I'm fine. I promise. Mmhmm… Yeah, Viktor will have hell to pay the next time I see him."

Alfred chuckled at something Matthew said, before muttering his final goodbyes and hanging up.

Ivan watched him finish patching up the rest of his wounds, punctuated with a lot of winces, before he headed off to the bedroom, scooping up his ruined super suit and medical supplies.

Now, Ivan didn't know what to do. It may have been a messy, albeit successful end to one mission, but the Russian had an itching feeling that it was only the start of something horrible. He knew he had to stop it, end this problem as quickly as possible, but he had no idea how.

He just hoped it didn't involve Alfred finding out the truth about _him._

* * *

 **Alright, don't panic, I _will_ be giving this a proper ending! If the suspense is getting to you, then it's practically killing me. XD  
** **Anyway, I hope you enjoyed reading this thus far! Leave a review and tell me what you think! :D It'll give me more motivation to writeee~~**

 **~Nish**


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